


Sweetness

by coolbyrne



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 06:02:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19126063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolbyrne/pseuds/coolbyrne
Summary: A fill-in fic for S16E24, "Daughters". How did Jack end up with Gibbs at the hospital?





	Sweetness

**Author's Note:**

> Referencing S16E24 ("Daughters") and S16E05 ("Fragments").
> 
> I usually don't do 'missing scenes', but I couldn't help but wonder, just how DID Jack end up going to the hospital with Gibbs? The idea that Jack was literally in therapy with Grace at the time also piqued my interest. And what was that hand-hold about? I hope this might give some possibilities. 
> 
> Also written because someone asked. :)

He willed his groaning knees up the stairs, two at a time, despite their protests. He couldn't explain to them why he was going up instead of down, why the only strain he should be putting on them was pushing his truck’s accelerator to the floor in a race to the hospital. He only knew Leon's words brought an acidic taste to his throat and he needed sweetness to take it away. The fact he sought _her_ out was an issue to be dealt with a day past never. 

Without questioning why the door was closed, he burst in unannounced. 

"Jesus, Popeye!" Grace exclaimed. "Learn to knock, would you?"

His surprise at finding Jack and Grace in a setting he immediately recognized as 'therapy' was quickly superseded by his alarm at Jack's appearance. Using Grace's condemnation as a cover, she ducked her head and tried to discreetly wipe away a tear before pasting on a smile. 

_No_ , she thought. She couldn't deal with his eyes when they were searching hers, the lines around the piercing blues pinched with a worry she couldn't face. Not when Grace pulled out all the contents of Jack's heart and coerced her to reveal the object of her affection in everything but name. Not when the therapist was intently watching the silent exchange. And not when he was showing such a quiet concern that it pierced her fragile defences. Before he could ask her the question, she asked it first.

“What’s wrong?”

He blinked, the question bringing him back to why he was there in the first place. “Tobias. Daughter’s in the hospital. Doesn’t look good.”

She instantly stood. “What can I do?”

The first question was easier to answer than the second. _What could she do?_ What did he want her to do? He had only come to see her face, to get the quiet reassurance she offered without hesitation. _What could she do_ besides be the port in the storm he seemed to be seeking out more and more? He had come to think of their first meeting as one of life’s ironic moments- showing up on his doorstep in the middle of a storm, but ending up being the calm in his life. He must have waited too long to answer because she stepped closer and laid a gentle hand on his arm.

“I’ll drive you to the hospital,” she offered, grabbing her keys from her desk.

Wordlessly, he dropped his own keys into her hand. 

Grace stood. “That’s my cue.” Collecting her things, she stopped at Gibbs’ side. “Tell Tobias to call me if he needs anything. Anything. You, too.” She waited for his nod, then looked at Jack. Having watched the exchange between the two had only confirmed what she had suspected. Careful not to reveal more than needed, she said to her patient, to her friend, “Remember what I told you. Now get going, both of you.”

…..

“What did she mean?”

The size of the vehicle took Jack some getting used to, the steering wheel feeling twice as big under her hands. The seat had adjusted forward to make up for his long legs and thank god it was an automatic. She was surprised he was serious about letting her drive, but considering he hadn’t said a single word for the first five minutes of a ten minute ride, she was relieved. She just wished those weren’t his first words.

“Who?”

If he hadn’t been otherwise preoccupied with what he might have to face at the hospital, he would’ve been more perturbed at her obvious avoidance. Still, there was a brittle frailness to her response that caught his attention. He turned his gaze from the blur of the passing scenery to take in her poorly concealed distress.

“Grace,” he said. “ _‘Remember what I told you.’_ What did she mean?”

“Patient/therapist confidentiality.”

“You’re the patient. You can break the confidentiality.” When he saw her knuckles go white, he reached out for her hand the same way she had done when he watched the video of Lieutenant Hall. “Talk to me, Jack.”

Suddenly she wished the truck had been a manual so she wouldn’t feel the warmth of his hand permeate hers, or the calloused fingers that scratched soothing circles into her palm. If she had an excuse to keep her hand on a stick shift, she could avoid his comfort and care, because right now, she was emotionally too raw to deal with all that it meant. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes and she chastised herself for the moment of weakness.

It didn’t help that this man, so rough and solid and stubborn, could be so goddamn soft when he said her name.

“Jack?”

“It’s nothing, Gibbs,” she replied, then shook her head, more at herself than at him. He deserved something more than a lie even if she couldn’t give the entire truth. “It’s something, but nothing that needs to be dealt with right this second. You’ve got enough to deal with right now.”

He wasn’t going to accept the diversion. “Can deal with two things at once. Got broad shoulders.”

His dry humour brought out a small laugh. “That you do,” she agreed. “I just-” How could she phrase ‘I just want to curl up into your arms and your life and never leave’ in a way that wouldn’t make him think she’d lost her mind? “Can I just help you first? We should be focusing on Tobias right now. We’ll- we can talk about me once this is all over.”

His eyes never left her profile as he mulled over her suggestion. “What did she mean?” Her expression meant she was about to retort, not answer, which he quickly cut off. “Tell me that much and I’ll leave it.”

“Gibbs…” She turned the truck into the hospital parking lot, found a spot and let go of his hand to throw the engine into ‘park’. Despite her better judgment, she reached over for his hand again, but didn’t quite have the strength to look him in the eye. He watched her watch the flow of human traffic go by. She wasn’t sure if she was comforted or unnerved by his patience.

“She told me I needed to guard my heart, but not to the degree that no one can get in.”

He hummed at the advice. “Sounds like therapist talk,” he said. “But she’s got a point. Don’t ever tell her I said that.” He enjoyed the small smile it brought. “I don’t know what you want me to say.” Realizing how callous the words might have sounded, he squeezed her hand. “I’m not good at talking.” She arched an eyebrow and he did the same. “You sassin’ me right now?”

The feeling in the truck changed and while she knew the ache in her heart would have to be tended at some point, now wasn’t the time, and for that, she was glad.

“Yeah, I think I am.”

He let her laugh at his expense, happy to be the target of her amusement if it meant making the sadness in her eyes go away.

“I’m not good at talkin’,” he repeated, his eyes a stern warning that nipped any sarcasm it the bud. “But I _am_ good at listenin’.” There was no teasing in his voice, no way to interpret his words as anything but sincere. He held it long enough for her to know it before adding, “And I don’t charge 200 bucks an hour.”

“Is that what she charges you?” Recklessly, she lifted his hand to her lips before letting go and turning off the ignition. She pulled the door handle and jumped out. “Are you coming or not?”

“How much does she charge _you_?”

…..

When the doctor gave Gibbs the ‘okay’ to see Emily, he breathed a sigh of relief, turned to Jack and reached for her hand for the second time that day. His focus was clearly on the task at hand, but his eyes and his hold told her he hadn’t forgotten about their conversation. She was warmed by his attention even as she held her breath at the possibilities of what it could mean. But she knew, watching him carve his way down the hall in pure Gibbsian strides, it was something to be set aside in the face of the current situation, and for now, that was just fine.

…..

-end

 


End file.
